For one to conform to Victorian society’s ingrained gender stereotypes is the ideology that one should behave in certain ways which are deemed as being socially ‘acceptable’ by Victorian society. The exploration in this essay is whether society shapes the individual in a ‘Doll’s House’ and ‘The Murder in the Red Barn’. The men and women in a ‘Doll’s House’ and ‘The Murder in the Red Barn’ are either shown to be conforming to Victorian gender stereotypes or are presented as being unconventional.
Both plays at first give the audience the impression that Nora and Maria both conform to Victorian society’s ingrained gender stereotypes. In Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’, Nora appears to be conforming to gender stereotypes in the beginning of the play. On the contrary, in ‘The Murder in the Red Barn’, Maria is portrayed as a submissive woman who conforms to the Victorian society’s gender roles throughout the melodrama. In the beginning of ‘A Doll’s House’ Nora is portrayed as the ‘childish’ wife who is unable to manage her finances. This is shown by when she asks Helmer if they ‘can be a little extravagant’ and her immaturity is demonstrated by her suggestion to ‘wrap up the notes in pretty gold paper’. Similarly, Maria herself is shown to be childlike as she ‘skips’ towards Marten. The fact that Maria ‘skips’ shows her childlike in nature and carefree which also suggests that she’s quite innocent. There is also a comparison in the way that in the melodrama, Maria is very feminine in the sense that she plays ‘hard to get’ and this is demonstrated by her actions when she ‘trips away’ with her ‘nose in the air' when Corder asks her to dance with him whilst Nora in ‘A Doll’s House’ is flirtatious with Helmer and this is reflected throu...
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...'you can't believe I have forgiven you"? Here he demonstrates his conceitedness as he only 'forgives' Nora because the 'IOU' has been 'torn' and as a result there is nothing that can harm his 'unassailable reputation'. Contrastingly, in 'The Murder in the Red Barn', Maria is very concerned about what ‘people will say' when they witness her with 'the son of the rich Mr Corder'. Victorian society's beliefs about social class were that a man of upper class should only marry a woman of his social class as working class were seen as inferior and immoral.
To conclude, there is conformation of Victorian society’s ingrained gender stereotypes. In ‘The Murder in the Red Barn’ gender conformation is evident throughout the melodrama whereas in ‘A Doll’s House’ the purpose is to ‘expose’ that some characters perform ‘actions’ that are ‘in opposition to general gender norms’.
Nora and Mrs. Wright’s social standing when compared to the men in each play is inferior. Both works expose their respective male characters’ sexist view of women diminishing the women’s social standing. Each work features egotistical men who have a severely inflated view of their self-worth when compared to their female counterparts. The men’s actions and words indicate they believe women are not capable of thinking intelligently. This is demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mr. Hale makes the statement about women only worrying about mere trifles. It is also apparent in “A Dollhouse” when Torvalds thinks his wife is not capable of thinking with any complexity (Mazur 17). Another common attribute is of the women’s social standing is displayed as both women finally get tired of feeling like second class citizens and stand up to the repressive people in the women’s lives (Mulry 294). Although both women share much in common in their social standing there subtle differences. Torvald’s sexist view of Nora is more on a personal level in “A Dollhouse” while the male characters’ sexist views in “Trifles” seem to be more of a social view that women are not very smart and their opinions are of little value. This attitude is apparent in “Trifles” as Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson’s comments about Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping (Mulry 293). As the women in both works reach their emotional
In society, there has always been a gap between men and women. Women are generally expected to be homebodies, and seen as inferior to their husbands. The man is always correct, as he is more educated, and a woman must respect the man as they provide for the woman’s life. During the Victorian Era, women were very accommodating to fit the “house wife” stereotype. Women were to be a representation of love, purity and family; abandoning this stereotype would be seen as churlish living and a depredation of family status. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House depict women in the Victorian Era who were very much menial to their husbands. Nora Helmer, the protagonist in A Doll’s House and the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” both prove that living in complete inferiority to others is unhealthy as one must live for them self. However, attempts to obtain such desired freedom during the Victorian Era only end in complications.
In A Doll’s House, Ibsen portrays his lead character, Nora, who is a housewife in the Helmer’s family. She has undergone a transformation throughout the play that she reacts differently to her husband. Her husband, Torvald, is an example of men who are only interested in their appearance and the amount of control they have over a person. In particular, he has a very clear and narrow definition of a woman's role. At the beginning of the story, as from the title of the play, Nora symbolizes the “doll” in the house, which means that she has been treated as treats Nora like a child or doll. For example, husband called Nora ‘bird’ and it implies that husband treats her like his pet and she is his doll as the title is a doll house. In other words, her husband wanted her to be a ‘lark' or ‘songbird' so he can enjoy h...
A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, both have central themes of search of self-identity within a social system. This is demonstrated by women characters from both plays breaking away from the social standards of their times and acting on their own terms. In most situations women are to be less dominant than men in society. These two plays are surprisingly different from the views of women in society and of the times and settings that they take place in.
Even in the 19th century setting of A Doll’s House, “traditional” gender roles, as well as hetrosexual marriage roles, are insinuated to be obsolete and extremely outdated, just like they are now in modern day
A Doll House gives us a true insight into the roles for men and women during the late 1800’s. This is why the play has been said to be able to take place in any and all suburbs. At this point in history, the roles of gender were mainly consistent across the world. Men vs. women in economics, social status, gender rights, marriage and divorce, and occupation can best describe this.
Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House is an astonishing, yet accurate portrayal of how women were treated in the 1800s. It is essentially a force runner to women's rights and sets a path for many more feminist works to come. The novel fiercely challenges the modern idea that all women, by virtue of being women, are inclined towards feminist political interests. The roles of women have been a big part of literature and are usually a representation of how the roles of women in real life have evolved and continue to evolve. A Doll's House is an essential part of IBO specifically for the fact that it shows historical realism in the Victorian Era, and continues to challenge the unrealistic expectations of women in marriage.
The first thing that the reader will notice regarding gender is the title of the play “A Doll’s House”. This reveals to the reader, Nora’s and possible Torvald’s status within the play. Nora is unable to be herself as she is not seen as an equal in her marriage. Instead, she is something to be admired and flaunted. This need for her to be something that Torvald can show off. Both Nora and Torvald are living lives based on illusion. Torvald has made Nora his perfect little doll so that he can look good. She thinks that he is a person with incredible strength, she becomes disillusioned with him at the end of the play when he exposes himself as just a man. This paper will look at the way that society’s expectations of gender roles are perceived
Society’s expectation of how a person should act, specifically, is commonly present in A Doll’s House. Unbalanced relationships in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House are shown through the symbolism of a doll. A doll is a representation of an ideal human being, often used as a toy for children. A doll represents what a human being should want to be and what little girls should grow up to be, this human is considered as the “ideal person.” For example the saying “I got all dolled up for a party,” it is an informal interpretation of one dressing smartly or attractively. Characters in A Doll’s House live according to the assurance and pressure of society in the Victorian era. These characters are all very different and divided as a result of their background, beliefs, and intelligence. These unbalanced relationships shown through the symbolism of a doll are commonly displayed among the main characters, and minor characters, and can also be shown through social class. When first opening this play we meet the main characters, Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer, these two are husband and wife and are very important in developing theme and character development.
A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest challenge society and its inclination to categorise and expect certain behaviour of individuals based on their gender.
Henrik Ibsen paints a sad picture of the sacrificial role of women throughout all social economical classes in his play “A Doll House”. The story is set in the late 19th century and all minor female characters had to overcome adversity to the expense of love, family and self-realization, in order to lead a comfortable life. While the main female protagonist Nora struggles with her increasingly troubled marriage, she soon realizes, she needs to change her life to be happy as the play climaxes. Her journey to self-discovery is achieved by the threat of her past crime and her oppressing husband, Torvald and the society he represents. The minor female characters exemplifying Nora’s ultimate sacrifice.
In the Victorian Era of mid nineteen to early twentieth century, a woman’s role in society remained to be in the household, away from the business and cares of men. The feminine side is portrayed as negative, powerless, and lacking (Kileen 49). Society discouraged women from having power in society and neglecting women represented normal in the eyes of most men and women. However, Victorian novels such as The Picture of Dorian Gray illustrate the consequences of disregarding women. In Oscar Wilde’s only novel, the lack of importance surrounding the female characters and their careless treatment from men results in the selfishness of the male characters exemplified through Dorian Gray’s acts of evil.
Henrik Ibsen catches the world off guard with his play A Doll House. The world is in what is known as the Victorian era and women and men have specific roles. The way the story unravels takes the reader by surprise. Ibsen wanted to write a play that would challenge the social norms and that would show the world that no matter how hard they press, they would not always win. Ibsen uses society’s customs, deception, and symbolism to keep the reader on their feet and bring them a play that they would never forget.
The nineteenth century was truly a different time for women and what their assumed roles in life would be. Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” is an examination into those assumed roles and a challenge to them. It was a time of obedience and inequality and in the first act each character is shown to portray these qualities. However, the characters in this play have multiple layers that get peeled back as the story progresses. As each new layer is revealed the audience is shown that even with the nineteenth century ideals, the true nature of each character is not quite what they appeared to be initially.
The role of women has changed significantly throughout history, driven by women who took risks in setting examples for others to follow. Henrik Isben, author of A Doll's House, said “ A woman cannot be herself in society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” (Innes 147). This proves that Isben was aware of male dominance in society during that time period. In his drama, “A Doll's House,” it deals with gender favoritism and male dominance.